Category Archives: Environment

Articles, Community News, Environment, Science

Domoic Acid Delays Recreational Crab Season in Northern California

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Map courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

From the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

The recreational Dungeness crab season will open beginning Nov. 1, 2025, except in northern California where it has been delayed due to a public health hazard.

State health agencies determined that Dungeness crab in northern California have unhealthy levels of domoic acid and recommended delaying the opening of the recreational fishery in state waters from the California/Oregon border (42° 0.00’ N latitude) south to the Sonoma/Mendocino County line (38° 46.125’ N latitude). Following this recommendation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham has delayed the opening of the recreational Dungeness crab fishery in northern California. Recreational take and/or possession of Dungeness crab is prohibited in these closed waters.

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Articles, Environment, Health, Smith River

Water Board Hosts Meeting Focusing On Smith River’s Easter Lily Bulbs

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Thumbnail photo: Ninety-five percent of Easter lily bulb production in the United States occurs in the Smith River coastal plain. | Photo courtesy of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board

Conservationists seeking to eliminate pesticide use in the Smith River Easter lily bulb industry are urging residents to tell water regulators how they have been impacted on Wednesday.

The California Northcoast Regional Water Quality Control Board isn’t expected to take action, Senior Water Resource Control Engineer David Kuszmar told Redwood Voice Community News. Instead, staff will present findings from a local water quality monitoring study and provide an update on the development of water quality regulations for lily bulb growers.

“This meeting represents an important opportunity for interested members of the public to speak directly to the Board about water quality issues that concern them, Kuszmar said. “Board members are free to offer suggestions and/or provide direction to staff at any time based on information provided and comments received.”

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Articles, Community News, Environment, Health

Animal Rescuers Wonder Where Pets Will Fit In At New Homeless Shelter, Micro Village

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Del Norte County; Above, Camp Berry founder Rhonda Berry says that of the 150 puppies she’s rescued in about a year 80% of them have come from the homeless encampments. | Photo courtesy of GoFundMe

Gloria Bobertz says she understands that for some people struggling with homelessness, their dog is often their only friend.

She doesn’t think they shouldn’t have pets, but after nearly 20 years working as a behavioral health specialist for Del Norte County, Bobertz, who’s now retired and works with cadaver and search and rescue dogs, said she’s seen the conditions some of these animals are in. She said she had a particularly hard time with a litter of puppies she brought to Camp Berry in July

“They were starved,” Bobertz told Redwood Voice Community News. “I don’t know what they were given to eat, but I can tell you it smelled so rotten. And just the look in their eyes — how can you do this to another living creature?”

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Curry, Environment

Crescent City Leaders Reaffirm Support For Permanent Mining Ban On North Fork Smith River

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Thumbnail image shows map of the proposed 58,000-acre expansion of the Smith River National Recreation Area. | Image courtesy of Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office.

More than eight years after the Obama Administration issued a 20-year mining ban for the North Fork Smith River in Oregon, the Crescent City Council reaffirmed its support for legislation that would make that prohibition permanent.

Four councilors on Monday agreed to draft a letter to U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkely and Ron Wyden, who represent Oregon, reminding them that the Smith River is where Del Norte County’s drinking water comes from and that they’ve advocated for protecting its headwaters for more than a decade. Councilor Daran Dooley was absent.

But though Grant Werschkull, executive director of the Smith River Alliance, said such legislation is necessary for the January 2017 mineral withdrawal order to be permanent, he’s not sure if it will be approved this year.

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Articles, Environment, Local Government

Supervisors Raise Concerns About Proposed Timber Harvest, Sells 18 Pacific Shores lots to State of California

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Thumbnail photo: California Coastal Commissioners met with California Department of Fish and Wildlife Scientists and Smith River Alliance representatives at Pacific Shores last year. | File photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Timber Harvest Near Hunter Creek Subdivision: 

Supervisors agreed to send a letter to Cal Fire outlining their concerns that a Green Diamond timber harvest plan could impact drinking water and increase wildfire risk in the Hunter Creek Subdivision.

The proposed letter came from District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson, who said he attended a presentation the timber company held for residents in the Klamath area subdivision. Green Diamond’s West Tepo Timber Harvesting Plan encompasses 294 acres, 60 percent of which will be clearcut, he said. Forty percent of those 294 acres will be set aside for selective harvesting, Wilson said.

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Articles, Environment, Science

Del Norter Who Spearheaded Fight to Reopen Rockfish Fishery Optimistic About Future Seasons

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Andrea Spahn brought a rare piece of good news to the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and the Crescent City Harbor District last month — the quillback rockfish is “not even close to being overfished.”

New data NOAA scientists presented at the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Stock Assessment Review, or STAR, panel in June may mean local fishermen can pursue rockfish up to 30 fathoms from shore, further than the current 20-fathom boundary they’re limited to, Spahn told Redwood Voice Community News on July 1.

The STAR panel must finalize the data and the PFMC still needs to view it, but Spahn was confident that Del Norte anglers would win back what they lost nearly two years ago.

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Articles, Community News, Environment, Local Government

Proposed Sale Of Pac Shore Properties Prompt BOS Discussion Around Wetland Mitigation

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Thumbnail photo: California Coastal commissioners stopped by the Pacific Shores subdivision during a visit to Del Norte County last year. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Del Norte County supervisors on Tuesday stalled the proposed sale of 18 tax-defaulted properties within the Pacific Shores subdivision to the state, instead directing staff to determine whether they could be used to mitigate wetland damage caused by future infrastructure projects.

Griping about a ratio the California Coastal Commission demanded during a runway safety project at the Del Norte County Regional Airport years ago, District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short asked if it would cost the county to hold onto the 18 properties rather than proceed with the sale. 

“We had to come up with 10 acres for [wetland] mitigation for every one acre we messed around with at the airport. It was plain extortion from the California Coastal Commission,” Short said. “My thought is the parcels we own in and around the swamps — Ruth Compound, whatever you want to call it — there are places there that are buildable. I’m thinking we could use these parcels to mitigate [that].”

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Environment, Gasquet, Humboldt, Klamath, Smith River

Threat Assessment: Trump Administration V. Redwoods

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Assistant superintendent for the Redwood State and National Parks: Shelana DeSilva

Lavina Brooks, a Yurok tribal member, elder, and descendant of the Karuk and Tolowa people posed a pointed question to the panel of Redwood Park conservationists hosted by the local Democratic committee at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds over the weekend.

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“I want to know: From your perspective — or if you’re allowed to give your perspective — how big a threat is the current administration to the parks in Del Norte and Humboldt County.”

Brooks’ question articulated a sentiment present in many minds. The redwood forests of this region are home to some of the oldest and tallest trees on the planet. Human beings have a long and passionately protective history with this particular classification of tree, including as a UNESCO World Heritage site — the designation for places on Earth that are recognized as having outstanding universal value to humanity, and have been inscribed to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

On March 1, the Trump administration issued an executive order titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” that set a lot of tree-huggers on edge.

Shelana DeSilva, assistant superintendent for the Redwood State and National Parks, stood up from the table and came forward with the mic.

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Articles, Community News, Environment

Dems-hosted “Coffee and Conversation” to Focus on the State of the Parks Saturday

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Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

More than 100 days into Donald Trump’s chaotic second presidency, Del Norters are urged to bring their concerns about how Redwood National and State Parks will weather the storm to the fairgrounds on Saturday.

The parks’ deputy district superintendent, Shelana deSilva, and Redwood Parks Conservancy Executive Director Sal Moreno are expected to be in the floral building at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for two hours of “coffee and conversation.”

It’s the third such gathering the Del Norte County Democratic Central Committee has hosted since Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 21. Yet, according to Lupe Gutierrez, vice president of the local Democratic Party, it was difficult to organize.

“There are a lot of unknown things out there,” she told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday, adding that she approached Six Rivers National Forest representatives about participating and hadn’t heard back. She said she also reached out to the Redwood National and State Parks and the Redwood Parks Conservancy — the “big agencies” in the area.

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Articles, Community News, Environment, Science

EPIC Offshore Wind Panel Stirs Little Local Interest

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Only about a dozen Del Norters showed up on a cold Friday evening to hear the latest science concerning offshore wind energy’s potential impact on marine wildlife. The event, held in the United Methodist Church in Crescent City and hosted by the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) of Arcata, was billed as an Offshore Wind Information Panel. Featured speakers addressed the possible interaction between marine mammals, birds and turtles and the giant floating wind turbines proposed for the waters off Del Norte and Humboldt counties.

Before the presentations began, Tom Wheeler, executive director of EPIC, explained the purpose of the event to Redwood Voice. “Under the Biden administration, Del Norte county was slated to have an offshore wind lease executed in the next four years. That’s obviously in question now with the Trump administration, but it’s still important for us to have these conversations and to understand the potential benefits and costs of offshore wind. And so we’re here tonight to help the community have that conversation.”

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